In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of divine revelation, authority, and wisdom in God's work of recovery. He uses the analogy of blueprints to explain that while the pattern of building God's house (the church) is revealed in the Bible, it takes wisdom to interpret and apply it. The speaker also highlights the need for love in gathering materials for the building of God's house and in winning souls for Christ. He emphasizes that wisdom is essential in using these materials and fitting them together to build God's house effectively.

Our Heavenly Father, as we gather together this evening, in the name of our Lord Jesus, we do want to offer to Thee our praise, our adoration, and our worship. O Father, how we praise and thank Thee for giving Thy Son, our Lord Jesus, to us, and in Him, all things. We do praise and thank Thee because in Him there is life, and the life is the light of man. We do praise and thank Thee because we do not need to walk in darkness. We can walk in the light, as Thou art in the light. And we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord Jesus, cleanses us from all our sins. At this moment, Lord, we ask Thee to cleanse us. We ask Thee that Thy Spirit will energize our inward man, that our whole being may be open to Thyself. And Thou art able to speak to us. Thou art able to transform us. Thou art able to do Thy work among us. O Lord, Thou does know that without Thee we can do nothing. And we do desire to hear Thy voice. We do desire to see Thee, and to be touched by Thee. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. We have been fellowshipping together at this time on the vessels of recovery. In the persons of Samuel, David, and Solomon. We mentioned how the promise of God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to the children of Israel had not been fulfilled even after they had entered into Canaan. Instead, we find the condition of the children of Israel in the land of Canaan was going downward during the time of the judges. Even though God sent judges to them to deliver them from the oppression of their enemies from time to time. And yet, they were not able to possess their full possession. And they were going downward farther and farther away from the realization of God's promise. And because of that, we find at the end of the judges, God began to react against that situation. And in reacting, God raised up certain vessels. These were vessels for recovery. Not only to restore what had been lost, but to recover too the original promise of God. And these vessels were in the persons of Samuel, of David, and of Solomon. Now, we have mentioned in the past Samuel. Samuel is representative of the principle of divine revelation. Whenever God begins, begins to react and to recover, it begins with revelation. It pleases God to reveal His Son in us. God of our Lord Jesus Christ gives the spirit of wisdom and revelation to the full knowledge of Him. So we find that in the process of recovery, divine revelation is the first basic principle. We must see. Unless we see, God is not able to do any work of recovery. And then we find in the person of David, he is symbolic of divine authority to recover to God's full thought. First, revelation. Second, authority. Unless authority is re-established among God's people, God's full purpose will not be able to be realized. So David is the embodiment of the principle of divine authority. Now this evening we will fellowship on the third person. And it is Solomon. Now as soon as we mention Solomon, I think it is very clear what he represents. He represents divine wisdom. So you find that in God's work of recovery, it is a recovery through these three principles. Revelation, authority, and wisdom. Now let's read a few passages first. 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel chapter 12. We will read verses 24 and 25. And David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and went into her and lay with her. And she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. And Jehovah loved him, and he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he called his name Jebediah for Jehovah's sake. Now Solomon means peaceful. And Jebediah means beloved of Jehovah, beloved of the Lord. The next place is found in 1 Kings. 1 Kings chapter 3. We will read from verse 4. 1 Kings chapter 3 verse 4 to verse 15. And the king went to Gibeon, that is Solomon, went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. A thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer up upon that altar. In Gibeon, Jehovah appeared to Solomon in a dream by night. And God said, Ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said, Thou hast shown unto thy servant David, my father, great lovingkindness, according as he walked before thee in truth and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with thee. And thou hast kept for him his great lovingkindness, that thou hast given him a son who sits upon his throne, as it is this day. And now, Jehovah my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father. And I am but a little child. I know not to go out and to come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people, which thou hast chosen a great people that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore to thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, to discern between good and bad, for who is able to judge this by numerous people? And it will please the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said to him, Because thou hast asked this thing and hast not asked for thyself long life, neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself discernment to understand judgment, behold, I have done according to thy word. Behold, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart so that there has been none like unto thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and glory, so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. And if thou wilt work in my ways to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did work, then I will prolong thy days. And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants. Chapter 4, Verse 29-34 And God gave Solomon wisdom and very great understanding and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore. And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the sons of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt, for he was wiser than all men, than Ethan the Ezraite, and Haman and Kelchor, and Dagadar, the sons of Mehol. And his fame was in all the nations round about. And he spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spoke of the trees from the cedar tree that is on Lebanon, even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall. He spoke also of cattle and of fowls and of creeping things and of fishes. And there came of all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom. And the last place we'll read is in 1 Kings 6, Verse 14 And Solomon built the house and finished it. That's all we'll read for this evening. In the recovery work of God Wisdom is as essential as revelation and authority. You remember in the prayer of Paul for the efficient believers, he prayed that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ will give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation to the full knowledge of God. What is wisdom? Wisdom, on the one hand, is the substance of revelation. Revelation is wisdom revealed. But wisdom is the substance of revelation. When God reveals something there is a substance in it. And that substance is wisdom. On the other hand, wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge. So you'll find, according to the word of God, wisdom can be seen in these two aspects. On the one hand, it is the substance, the wisdom of God. That is, what is in God. What has God in mind? What is God's thought? What is God's concept? What is God's will? What is His counsel? That's wisdom. Nobody knows of this until it is revealed. And what is revealed is nothing but what is wisdom. That is what is in God. There is a definite substance there. And then you'll find wisdom on the other hand, is the ability to apply the knowledge that God has given to you. That's wisdom. We can use two passages in the Scripture to illustrate these two aspects. In 1 Corinthians 2, you'll find here Paul speaks of the wisdom of God. And of course, in contrast with the wisdom of God, he first mentions the wisdom of this world. God will destroy the wisdom of the wise. God will confound the wisdom of this world. Because He used the foolishness of the cross to confound the wisdom of the worldly wise. And this is God's wisdom. When Paul preached the gospel to the saints, to the people at Corinth. Now Corinth was a center of civilization and culture at that time. The people at Corinth were proud of their knowledge and their wisdom. So when Paul was sent by God to the city of Corinth, he was determined that he would know nothing among them but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. In other words, Paul was not to match with the Corinthians' worldly wisdom with worldly wisdom. Paul had enough wisdom of the world. Because he was brought up in the city of Tarsus, a center of Greek culture. He was educated in Jerusalem, the center of Hebrew culture. So you find Paul was a highly educated person. He could very well match the Corinthians' wisdom of the world that he had. Even to conquer them. But he knew how futile it would be. What the Corinthians needed was not worldly wisdom. On the contrary, the wisdom of the wise must be destroyed. How? By the preaching of the cross of our Lord Jesus. You know, it was not too easy for Paul to do that. But Paul was one who knew the cross. So he was able to be determined when he entered into their midst to be considered as a fool, as foolish, by preaching the cross of our Lord Jesus. He said, I will know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of this world. But, Paul said, among the perfect, we speak wisdom. Now do not think that there is no wisdom, no divine wisdom. There is wisdom. But for the Corinthians, before they knew the Lord, what they needed was not worldly wisdom. They had some of it. What they needed was the cross. That was the basis of their salvation. But after they had accepted the cross of the Lord Jesus, after they were brought into the family of God, then among the perfect, now you know the word perfect in the scripture does not mean perfection as we know today. It means the mature, the grown up. Among the grown up of the Christians, Paul said, we speak wisdom. But it is not the wisdom of this world, nor of the rulers of this world. We speak God's wisdom in a mystery. He gave us several descriptions of that wisdom in a mystery. But he never pointed out to the Corinthians what that was. If you want to know that, you have to go to the letter to the Ephesians. Because there he revealed what the wisdom of God in a mystery really is. But anyway you find here, there is the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God is the depth of God. The wisdom of God is something that people have not seen, have not heard, have not even thought of. The wisdom of God is something that has to be revealed to us by the Spirit of God. So you find here is another kind of wisdom. It is not the wisdom of the world. It is divine wisdom. And in the divine wisdom you find there is a substance there. There is the depth of God there. There is the plan of God there. There is the glory of God there. And it can only be known through revelation of the Holy Spirit. That's the substance. How much do we know? How much do we have of God's wisdom? We may be worldly wise, but are we spiritually wise? How much do we see the substance that is in God? That which is in God's focus. That which God plans to do. Even before the foundation of the world. As we find in the letter to the Ephesians. Now that's God's wisdom. And in the recovery work of God you will see how necessary it is to have that wisdom. Because otherwise we will be groping in the dark. We may think we are wise, but we are foolish. That's the substance. Then if you turn to the epistle of James, chapter 3, you find he also tries to tell us what wisdom is. Verse 13. Chapter 3, verse 13. Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show out of a good conversation his work in meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter emulation and strife in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This is not a wisdom which comes from above, but earthly, natural, devilish. For where emulation and strife are, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above first is pure, then peaceful, gentle, yielding, full of mercy and good fruit, unquestioning, unfamed. But the fruit of righteousness in peace is sown for them that make peace. Here you'll find the apostle James also tells us of two kinds of wisdom. One is the wisdom from below. It is earthly. It is natural. It is devilish. And the other is the wisdom from above, which is pure, peaceful, gentle, yielding, full of compassion, good fruit, unquestioning, unfamed. Here the apostle James is not referring to the substance of wisdom. He is referring to applied wisdom. Applied wisdom. Therefore he said, sow your wisdom in your work, in meekness of wisdom. The wisdom from below is earthly. It is natural. It is devilish. People who profess to have that kind of wisdom become very clever, very crafty, know how to take advantage of people, of occasion. It is self-exalting. It is self-seeking. And the result is strife and emulation and jealousy. That is earthly wisdom. But the wisdom that comes from above is first pure. In other words, we are purified from mixed motives. God is the God of purity. We are being purified. And it is very peaceful, gentle, easily persuaded. It is not hard and stubborn. Full of compassion with good fruit and so on and so forth. So you find here there are two areas, two different kinds of wisdom. And what we need to have is the wisdom from above. That's what we need to have. And having this heavenly wisdom or divine wisdom, then we will be able to be used of God in his recovery. Now we will illustrate that in the life of Solomon. So let's go to the life of Solomon. First, the birth of Solomon. Solomon was born after his father David was disciplined by the Lord. David sinned against God. He took Bathsheba. He killed Bathsheba's husband. She murdered. And because of his sin, God's hand was upon him. Yes, he repented. And God sent Nathan to tell him that his sin was forgiven. And yet God's hand of discipline was upon him. So the first child that was born through this unholy union was smitten with sickness. And because of this you'll find David. He lay on the ground fasting, praying, hoping that God will have mercy upon him. He knew God had forgiven his sin. But he hoped that God's hand of discipline would be lifted by humbling himself before God. But God did not hear him. And you remember when David saw that the child died, people did not dare to tell him because his courier said when the child was still alive he was like this, lying on the floor, fasting, would not eat anything. Now if he knew the child was dead, what would happen to David? So nobody was... had the courage to tell him. But David noticed something happened. So he asked, was the child dead? Yes. And he acted quite strangely to those who do not know God. He got up. He changed. He ate. He went to the temple, to the house of God, worshiped God, and he came back. Why? He said, well, God had revealed his will already. The child cannot come back to me, but I'll go to him. In other words, he accepted God's discipline, inhumanity. And out of that experience God gave him Solomon. So Solomon was born after David repented, confessed, humbled, accepted God's discipline. And out of that experience God gave him a son whose name was Solomon. So is it not true? The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful. Here you'll find a person had to be purified under the chastening hand of God the Father. And out of that was born the son of peace, wisdom. Brothers and sisters, divine wisdom was not natural to us. Divine wisdom often comes to us through discipline. It is true. Sometimes God can give us the spirit of wisdom for the asking. But at other times you'll find we possess divine wisdom through chastisement, through discipline. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of wisdom. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will reveal wisdom to us that we may know God in a real way. But at other times he has to use what we call the discipline of the Holy Spirit. He has to raise up environment. We have to go through something before we learn wisdom. You know that is the difference between knowledge and wisdom. You may acquire knowledge without going through something. But if you want to acquire wisdom you may have to go through something. There is a difference there. And because of that you'll find Solomon can say the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Where does wisdom come from? It comes from God. But how does it come? The fear of the Lord is the beginning. He learns wisdom. Our wisdom is born through the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Brothers and sisters today we may accumulate some knowledge but how much wisdom do we have? If we want to have wisdom we have to be willing to be disciplined by the Holy Spirit. You know there is much foolishness in us. And that is the reason why a rod sometimes is necessary. You know like Paul says the rod will drive away the foolishness in us. And I think that is spiritually very true. Very true. There is much foolishness in us. We think we are wise but actually we are foolish. And sometimes it takes the rod to drive away that foolishness. That's the way we learn wisdom. After Solomon was born the second thing you find in him was the prayer of Solomon for wisdom. Now that's the asking. When he ascended to the throne the Bible said he loved God. And because he loved God he went to Gibeon to sacrifice to God because the great altar was there. You know that David brought the ark to the city of David that is to Jerusalem. But the great altar the brazen altar was still in Gibeon. So Solomon he went to Gibeon to offer sacrifice. And after he offered sacrifice in the night God came to him in a dream. And God said what you ask what you want. And Solomon said you have put me on the throne instead of my father. This is thy people. Thy people is a great people. And I am but a child. I do not know how to go in and go out among them. Therefore I ask for an understanding heart that I may be able to discern and to judge thy people. And when Solomon asked God for wisdom God was very pleased with that. Because God said you do not ask for yourself long life. You do not ask for yourself richest wealth. You do not ask for yourself the life of your enemy. But you ask wisdom understanding discernment. God said I will give it to you. Not only I will give you wisdom, understanding heart, but I will give you all these things wealth and long life will be added to you. And there shall be no one before you or even after you who will be as wise as you are. Here you find Solomon asked for wisdom. Now what is wisdom? Wisdom is an understanding heart. In other words being literally it means a heart that hears. You know? An understanding heart. In Hebrew if you translate it literally it means a heart that hears. Now that's wisdom. We often think of wisdom as in the mind. But the Bible says that wisdom is in the heart. You know in the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve they sought for knowledge, for wisdom. They thought that by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they will be able to know good and evil. They will have knowledge they will have wisdom, they will be wise. They will be as wise as God. But you know the tree of the knowledge of good and evil will only give them knowledge wisdom or discernment in their mind. And the result of that was death. If you are wise in your mind it will not make you better people. It make you a prouder people. Not better but prouder. But here you find divine wisdom is in the heart. It is a heart that hears. It is a heart that is able to hear God. That is able to hear the voice of God. And of course this is but another way, we can say another way, it is a heart that can see God. It's the same thing. That's wisdom. Wisdom is not something in the mind. You know, some people may be very wise in their mind but very foolish in their heart. Very dull in their heart. Other people may not have much in their mind but they are very wise in their heart. And that's true wisdom. That's true wisdom. It is a heart that hears God. Brothers and sisters do we have a heart that hears? Solomon is so wise. His wisdom is above all the people of the East. You know, the people of the East at that time were considered as very wise. Very wise. Very philosophical. But Solomon's wisdom exceeded the wisdom of the man of the East. He spoke thousands of proverbs. He composed a thousand and five songs. He spoke from the Lebanon, from the cedar trees on Lebanon to the hyssop that climbed upon the wall. He spoke of the fowls of the air, the fish of the sea and the animals on the land. In other words, he knew everything. But brothers and sisters you know there is a difference here. When Solomon wrote about the cedar of Lebanon and the hyssop on the wall. Cedar of Lebanon is the biggest tree. It represents the biggest of the plant world. And the hyssop on the wall represents the tiniest, the smallest in the plant world. And here you'll find Solomon he could touch upon cedar of Lebanon as well as the hyssop on the wall. But you remember, he did not write these things as a botanist. You know a botanist has the knowledge of trees and plants. And they can write books on botany. They will tell us all about these trees, all about these plants and their knowledge is very amazing. But when Solomon wrote about these things he did not know about these things as a botanist. Now some people can write about these trees and birds and things like that as a philosopher. As a poet. As an artist. Very beautiful. Now in a sense they seem to exceed the knowledge of a botanist. Or a zoologist. Because they seem to be able to feel something. Not just to describe the physical condition but even to feel something in it. And they can write about the beauty of life. Very poetical. Very philosophical. Very artistic. But the wisdom of Solomon is not just poetical, artistic and philosophical. The wisdom of Solomon is spiritual. When he touched upon the trees, he touched upon the birds and the fishes, he could see God's purpose in these things. He could see God! What God is doing in these things. And all these things will reflect the glory of God. And he could see divine principles in all these different things. In other words, he had a spiritual insight into God's creation. He was able to lead people to God. A botanist is able to educate us on what the creation is. A poet, a philosopher can help us to feel the creation. But it takes the wisdom of Solomon to bring us to God through the created beings. That's wisdom. That's wisdom. Therefore you'll find in the Song of Songs, when Solomon writes about the union between a man and a woman, he is revealing to us that union between God and Christ. You know? That's wisdom. That's real wisdom. He enters into these things and sees as God sees. As God creates. That's wisdom. And he asks for that wisdom. And God gave it to him. God gave it to him. It is said in the Epistle of James, if any one of you lack wisdom, ask and doubt not. Ask the God who gives everything freely to us. And doubt not. And I think we should take that word literally. You know? Sometimes we think we are not lacking in wisdom. And because of that we act foolishly. We know that as Solomon we are but a child. We do not know how to go in and out among God's people. We do not know how to help God's people. It takes wisdom. We should ask God. We should ask God. And if we ask by faith and doubt not, he will give it to us. Just like Solomon. He does not, he did not ask for anything else. He just asked for wisdom. A heart and enlarged heart. So may the Lord give us this wisdom. And you will find later on how necessary, how needed is this wisdom. Then thirdly, wisdom is not just expressed in talking. Wisdom is to be manifested in work. In works. People who talk too much probably do not have much. In China we often say, the reason why a drum, when you beat it, is so loud because it is empty. If something is solid when you beat it, it does not give you much noise. You know? Much sound. So too much talking probably shows there is not much wisdom there. Anyway. Wisdom is not just in talking. Yes, Solomon talked about all these things. But more. You find that the wisdom of Solomon is demonstrated in the building of... It does not take wisdom to destroy things. On the contrary, foolishness destroys. It takes foolishness to destroy. If you are not foolish enough, you cannot destroy. Folly destroys. But wisdom builds. Therefore you find in Proverbs it is said, wisdom builds her house. And she sets up seven pillars. It takes wisdom to build. To build. God used Solomon to build a house. And for that reason you find God gave him wisdom. Wisdom is practically used in the building of the house. In what we say. God gave the pattern of the temple to David. In 1 Chronicles chapter 28 you find David show to Solomon the pattern of the whole house. He said God shows him by his finger in writing. So David got the pattern from God. And he gave the blueprint to Solomon. And Solomon built the house. I came from a family of builders. My grandfather, my uncles, and my eldest brothers, they were all builders. But I had no knowledge of building. I remember when I was in school. Sometimes I went to visit my elder brother who was building. And he built big buildings in Shanghai. And I can remember very well when I went to visit him at his office. I went into his office where he was building and I saw on the table lots of blueprints. Oh, you'll find sheets and sheets of blueprints. And when I looked at them you know, I could only see all these lines and curves and all these things but I didn't understand what they represented. It was just like pictures to me. It had no meaning to me whatsoever. Why? Because I do not have the wisdom to read the blueprints. But to my brother when he looked over these sheets he could see the building. He knew exactly how that building must be built. But to me it was vague, unreal, nothing. Brothers and sisters, do you know God is building his house today? The Lord said, I will build my church. God is the master builder. He is building a magnificent building which is called the church. The pattern of that building has already been revealed. The blueprint is in the Bible. But it takes wisdom to read the blueprint. We are all reading the Bible. We know all the letters. But can you interpret the blueprint? Do you, can you read the blueprint? Do you see in the Bible God's pattern? What God is after. How he is building it. With what materials. In what way. How it will be formed. Can we see that? We may all be reading the Bible, but it takes divine wisdom to see the pattern. To read it and to interpret it. Otherwise, when you read the Bible, all you see are letters. For me to try to interpret all these lines and curves on these blueprints without knowledge and wisdom, I do not know what it will come out. It may come out not a building, but something different. I don't know. And you know, that is the way people are reading the Bible. We are all reading the Bible. We all try to interpret with our natural mind. With the knowledge in our mind, not the wisdom in our heart. And the result is everybody has his or her own Bible. We have the same Bible and yet it is all different. You interpret in this way and I interpret in that way and it's all according to our imagination. And especially in the book of Revelation. Brothers and sisters, why? Why? Because we have something in our mind, but we lack something in our heart. Do we have a heart that hears? If we have a heart that hears, then you'll find the Bible becomes you'll hear God's voice. You will begin to see what is in the heart of God. What is he doing today? And he will show you how the house, it takes wisdom. That is the reason why you'll find in God's recovery work, wisdom is so important. Divine wisdom is so necessary. We need to hear and to see God's plan. That's wisdom. Now how much of God's wisdom in a mystery do we have? Paul said, by what I write you can see that I have God's wisdom. But how much do we have? Secondly, Solomon's wisdom was expressed in following faithfully the pattern that was given to him. If he should become clever in himself, you know, he may very well start out to make some alterations. He might think that he was improving on God's pattern. But you know, if anybody would dare to do that, he is foolish. He is foolish. He is destroying God's work. And brothers and sisters, you'll find today in Christianity so many people who consider themselves as wise and they start out to change God's plan. They say they are improving it. Lots of worldly knowledge but very little divine wisdom. Solomon was so wise that he followed faithfully all the patterns, specifications that David gave without adding anything, not taking away anything. That's wisdom. That's wisdom. Certainly. The wisdom of Solomon was demonstrated in his ability to make use of all the materials that had been collected. David prepared lots of materials out of his soil of war. David set apart gold, silver, stone, timber, iron, all these materials. David, out of his soil of war, he set apart these things for the building of the house. And David said, out of my affection for God, out of my love for God, I set apart gold, silver, refined gold and other things for the building of the house. In other words, love prepares the materials. But wisdom put these materials together. We may have lots of love, but if we do not have wisdom, all these materials are gathered or prepared, but we do not know how to build them. How to put them together. How to make use of them. You know? That takes wisdom. Oh, how we need love. That we may prepare materials for the building of God's house. How we need God's love. That we may go out and win souls for Christ. Oh, we must gather lots of materials, gold and silver, timber and all these stones. We need to gather these materials out of love. Through conflicts, we must gather these things. But brothers and sisters, love must be added by wisdom. Love alone will not know how to use these materials. Lots of people are saved, are gathered, but how are you going to build them together to be the house of God? Where are you going to put them? How are you going to fit them together? That each may find its place in God's house. That is wisdom. Divine wisdom. And that's the reason why John Paul is a master builder. He has divine wisdom. He knows how to use these materials. How to bring God's people to help them to be built up together in love. And lastly, Solomon's wisdom was demonstrated. In his ability to mobilize and to coordinate tens of thousands of people in the building of the temple. You see, in 1 Kings, it is said, in 1 Kings chapter 5, verse 13, and King Solomon raised a levee out of all Israel, and the levee was 30,000 men. 30,000 men! And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month, by courses, a month they were in Lebanon, two months at home, and Adonai was over the levee, and Solomon had 70,000 that bore burdens, and 80,000 stonemasons in the mountains, besides the overseers whom Solomon had sent over the work, 3,300, who ruled over the people that wrought in the work, and the king commanded, and they brought gravestones, corkless stones, hewstones, to lay the foundation of the house, and Solomon's builder, and Haran's builder, and the gibbelites hewed them, and prepared timber and stones to build the house. That's wisdom. He was not able to use the materials, he was able to coordinate all these laborers. Brothers and sisters, are we able to coordinate? Are we able to join many as co-laborers in the great work of the building of God's house? That takes wisdom. To do the work by yourself is one thing. To be able to coordinate, to bring everybody in, and work coordinately, for the work, is another thing. You know, sometimes you think, well, if a thing is to be done, it is much easier if you just go ahead and do it. You know? It seems to be harder if you try to draw some other people in, you have to explain to them, you have to help them to see, and then we'll work together, and when it comes out, probably it's not as good, as efficient, as you will do it by yourself. And because of that, you'll find we will just go ahead and do it. And the result is, there is no fellowship, there is no coordination, and lots of brothers and sisters will just be waited upon. We will never ask them to participate because when they participate, well, they... it's more a hindrance than a help. So get out of the way, let me finish it. But brothers and sisters, this is not wisdom. This is not wisdom. Because if you are doing it, you will never be able to build our house. It is not only that you will do it, but you will teach people, help people, draw people in, and do it together. And that is fellowship. That is body ministry. That each part will perform its work. Then the whole body will be built up. So brothers and sisters, you'll find this wisdom is very practical. It is applied wisdom. And it really takes wisdom to do that. So all in all, you'll find this. When God is doing his work of recovery, he has to have these three things. Revelation, authority, and wisdom. Divine revelation, divine authority, and divine wisdom. And these are not theories. These have to be embodied in us. We have to be vessels of revelation, of authority, and of wisdom. When God is able to obtain these, then you'll find what God has promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, was fully realized at the end. If you read your Bible, you'll find how true that is. Everything that God has promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and everything that God intended to get in his people, add to Samuel, David, and Solomon. God got them all. And this is what God is doing today. So may the Lord be gracious and merciful to us, that we may be vessels like Samuel, David, and Solomon of divine revelation, of divine authority, and of wisdom. Our Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee, because Thou dost desire to have us as Thy vessels for recovery. We confess that in ourselves there is darkness, there is no light. In ourselves there is rebellion, there is no authority. In ourselves there is no wisdom, but foolishness. But we praise and we thank Thee, because Thou art the God who gives wisdom, authority, revelation. So we do come to Thee together tonight, humble ourselves before Thee, and ask Thee to, by Thy Holy Spirit, to deal with us, to take away our darkness, our rebellion, and our foolishness, and to replace these with Thy revelation, Thy authority, and Thy wisdom. Now we ask these, not for our own sake, but we ask these for the sake of the realization of Thy eternal purpose. Grant our humble prayer, for we ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.